What this tool does
Enter a domain and the tool reports when it was first registered, when it expires, and how long ago that was in years, months and days.
Where the dates come from
The dates are read from the domain’s RDAP record, which comes from the registry through the public rdap.org service. The tool shows the registration date the registry reports, labelled “created”. If the registry doesn’t publish one, the tool says “Registration date unavailable”. Results are cached for 24 hours.
What the age does and doesn’t mean
The creation date is the first registration of that name. It does not tell you:
- How long the current owner has had it. Domains change hands, and dropped domains get registered again, which can reset the date.
- How long a website has been live on it. A domain can sit unused for years.
- Anything about search rankings. Google has said domain age isn’t a ranking factor. Older domains tend to rank well because they have had time to earn links, not because of the date itself.
Where it is useful
- Judging a domain you’re thinking of buying, alongside its history
- Sanity-checking a site that claims to be long-established
- Finding the expiry date of your own domains, so renewals don’t lapse
- Spotting very new domains in suspicious emails, since phishing sites are often days old
For the registrar and name servers use WHOIS Lookup. The tool allows 10 lookups a minute.
Does an older domain rank better?
Not because of its age. Google has said age is not a ranking factor, though older sites have often built more links.
Why does it say the registration date is unavailable?
The registry didn’t return one in its RDAP record, or has no RDAP service.
Is the age the age of the website?
No. It is the age of the domain registration, which may be older or newer than the site on it.
Can a domain’s age be reset?
If a domain expires and is re-registered after deletion, the creation date can change.
Can it tell me when a domain expires?
Yes, when the registry publishes an expiry date in its RDAP record. The result shows the created date, the expiry date and the age.